With 8 months of our lives put on hold to an extent, I know we are all looking for ways to incorporate any sense of normalcy as safely as we can. I’ve seen some adorable pictures of families at the pumpkin patch and it’s a beautiful reminder that this pandemic can’t take away everything.

This last weekend, my daughter got to experience her first hint at normalcy as a high school student. With October typically being Homecoming time, this is when she and her friends would likely get dressed up and head to their first high school dance. Since school dances and events are still prohibited, one of my dear friends and her friends’ mom came up with the idea to host a Covid Homecoming event.

Since safety is still key, she limited the event to just the close friends who have been in the same social circle to avoid exposure to a larger group of kids. Since she has a Senior this year too, the main event was centered around them but the freshman girls got to participate and enjoy the night too. Here are a few ways she made this night so special for all the kids.

First, she created a beautiful balloon archway with a background outdoors for photos. Honestly, it rivaled what the school would have likely had for decorations. It was the perfect spot for the kids to do all of their fun poses in their fancy dresses. She had the older kids come first and then head off to a local park for more photos while the younger kids came and started their photo session.

From there, she and her husband made a delicious dinner and served the kids at a fancy table complete with a beautiful red rose centerpiece. They even brought out the fine china for the event. Dinner was followed by a little time to play games and hang out together and then enjoy a delicious brownie sundae dessert.

Once dessert was complete, the older kids were headed back to enjoy their fancy dinner so the younger kids headed upstairs to change into comfortable clothes and end the night watching movies together.

While it wasn’t the same Homecoming dance experience, I honestly think they had even more fun together and had such a magical evening getting to dress up and make some pretty special memories together.

It was such a beautiful reminder that it’s up to us to make sure our kids get to enjoy some of the things in life that they are missing out on right now. Since I also have a Senior this year, I know I need to be mindful of trying to create ways to make this year special since the school ultimately may not be able to.

It doesn’t take a lot of money to create such a special evening or memory for our kids. Sometimes it’s just giving them the reminder that life can still be good and we can still find ways to celebrate them. Have a great day!